During the course of a harness horse race it is possible one or more of several different types of undesirable sulky-to-sulky wheel engagements to occur. For instance, frequently an overtaking sulky traps a wheel of the overtaken sulky between a wheel and its inner fork half of the overtaking sulky. Also, is common for the overtaking sulky to trap a wheel of the overtaken sulky between a wheel and its outer fork half of the overtaking sulky. Such sulky-to-sulky wheel engagements often referred to as "hooking," "locking wheels," or "locking up." Regardless of the name, such events are highly dangerous and can result in serious accidents causing injury or damage to drivers, horses, or equipment.
During the course of a harness race it is also possible for an outer fork half of an overtaking sulky to ride up onto a wheel of the sulky it is overtaking. When such occurs, the side of the overtaking sulky making fork-to-wheel contact with the overtaken sulky is often rapidly elevated and the consequent tipping of the sulky may cause the driver to be pitched to the ground and severely injured.
A simple U-shaped tubular guard has been proposed for incorporation on racing sulkies to prevent "hooking" or "locking up" from occurring during sulky-to-sulky wheel engagements, but such a solution to the problem is deficient in at least two respects. The U-shaped tubular guard constitutes structure in which a hoof of the horse drawing the sulky can become entangled and thus lead to tripping and a sulky pile-up. Also, the U-shaped tubular guard member does nothing to prevent the incorporating sulky's outer fork half from being able to ride up and onto the wheel of a sulky which it is overtaking.
My invention, when properly combined with the structure of a conventional harness racing sulky, functions to eliminate the sulky capability for trapping a wheel of a sulky being overtaken, and also to eliminate the possibility of any portion of the sulky's fork from riding up and onto the wheel of a sulky being overtaken.